What Would You Say If?
by emmathecharming
Summary: Fitz has a lot on his mind when he returns after he and Mack confront Daisy. And with what he is already holding back from Jemma, he can't bear keeping this from her too. Just a little bit on how I think that conversation might go.


Fitz watches as the pictures on the small screen change, the people moving about living their own simple, scripted lives. He thinks it must be nice to live in a world where everything gets wrapped up with a neat little bow every week- no friends on the run, no new directors coming in, no mysterious enemies to fight. If only real life could be that simple.

He looks up when the bathroom door opens and Jemma walks out. She makes her way across the room to her side of the bed and pulls the comforter up so she can slide in beneath it.

He grabs the remote from the table beside the bed and turns the television off, the sudden silence feeling almost deafening as Jemma settles in. His muscle memory kicks in and he lifts his arm so that he can wrap it around Jemma as he usually does at the end of their days but he does not move to turn off the lamp beside him.

He sighs and he can feel Jemma's body tense slightly in response. He knows he has to tell her, that he can't keep this a secret from her too. She can't take this to the director, at least, since Daisy is gone leaving no leads as to where she might run next.

"Jemma...?" he says, his whisper sounding like a shout in the quiet of their surroundings.

"What is it, Fitz?" she says softly, turning her head to look up at him.

"What would you say to Daisy if we found her tomorrow?" he asks, not meeting her eyes.

Jemma places her hand on his chest and gently pushes herself up so she can look at him more directly.

"Fitz, what is this about?" Her voice is louder now, her concern and confusion pushing through in its tone.

"I'll tell you but can you answer the question before I do?"

Jemma can see something in his eyes- fear, regret, worry maybe and so after taking a deep breath, she begins to answer him.

"Well... before I said anything," she muses, "I would start by giving her a hug." She pauses, trying to decide just what should come next. "And then, I think, I'd ask her why she left- why, when she had all of us here for her, she ran away." Her voice is sharper as she finishes, the pain of the last six months resurfacing. "Now," she adds, a tense smile on her face, "it's time for you to hold up your end of the bargain."

Fitz pushes himself up to rest against the headboard and stares down at his hands for a few moments before he answers.

"Mack and I..." he trails off. "We saw her in LA. She saved Mack's life," he sighs.

"You two- did you- so why isn't-?" Jemma fires off.

"Yeah, we did. Mack tried to talk to her but she refused to come back," Fitz whispers, answering all of her unfinished questions. "But that's- that's not what I'm worried about," he says slowly.

Jemma places her hands on either side of his face, turning his head so that she can lock her eyes with his. "Fitz," she pleads, "what is wrong? What happened out there?"

He sighs again as he finally meets her eyes. "I-" He stops to take another deep breath. "I yelled at her- at Daisy. I completely lost it."

"Oh Fitz," Jemma whispers, slowly rubbing her thumbs over his cheeks as he closes his eyes.

"I accused her of turning her back on us," he says finally, his body sinking as the weight of holding this secret in gets lighter.

"Oh Fitz," she whispers again. "I'm sure she understands you were just hurt. I know that, deep down, Dasiy knows we care about her- _all_ of us."

"But do you think I was wrong?" he asks, pulling her hands from his face so he can wrap them tightly in his own.

"For telling her how you feel? No," she says as if she has no doubt that she is right. "Could you have possibly done so in a better way? I don't know. Only you can know how you truly feel; only you can decide what you need to say."

"You're right, Jemma," he says softly, staring down at their intertwined hands. "I know you are, I do. But I still don't feel very good about all of this."

"Then let me tell you what to do," Jemma says smiling as he looks back at her eyes. "When we get Daisy back- _when not if_ \- you can apologize to her."

"Do you think that will be enough?"

"I don't know," she says and Fitz's shoulders slump lower. "But," she adds, nudging his chin up, "I have hope that it will."

"Thank you Jemma," Fitz says, untangling one of his hands so that he can wrap it around her shoulders.

Jemma does not reply to this choosing instead to place a soft kiss on his cheek before he turns to click off the lamp. They both settle back down into the bed and she returns her head to its resting place on his chest, the familiarity of the action allowing them both to finally sleep.


End file.
